Argentina (plus 1 night in Paraguay)‏

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We pulled into Salta at midnight, starving and jaded after the 12 hour bus journey with no meals. Luckily a guy from our hostel, Exxes Hostel, was there waiting for us. It was like a mirage! He deposited us in a cab which they paid for and we were on our way. Everyone we met at this hostel was very friendly and helpful. Despite the late arrival they directed us to a restaurant 2 blocks away, it was packed! Most tables were eating, only a few drinking, at 1am! We filled up on a pizza with pineapple and cherries and some tasty wine before crashing. In the lobby, right outside our door, we're greeted with a full length poster of Enrique and Sayta Ranch. We're already booked in for 2 nights on a recommendation from Ash's friend Sue.



The ranch arranged return transfers from Salta, about an hour each way. A welcome party consisting of the owner Enrique and Rosa (a Polish volunteer) greeted us upon arrival. We got checked into the nuptial suite, a separate building with lots of antiques inside and outside. The horses are in fields and stables all around us and there's a tractor workshop on site too. It's really quaint. We had brekkie while waiting for the other guests to arrive then take off on our first horse trek, Ash on Brugha and Ade on Emir, led by the gaucho's (Argentinian for cowboys). The horses were big and strong but we walked mainly along roads with a bit of cantering and trotting. When we got back to the ranch an epic Asado lunch (Argentinian BBQ) was served up. All the guests were on one side of the table with Enrique at the top and Rosa in the middle and the gaucho's and other ranch staff at the other end. We piled our plates up with loads of different types of veggies then the meat started rolling out starting with yummy sausages, chorizo, then lots of pieces of steak cooked to perfection. We ate till we thought we would burst all the while Rosa constantly topped up our wine glasses whenever they hit the halfway mark. After lunch we sat in the garden drinking more wine and chatting with our riding companions (a French couple and a girl from England) in the sunshine. The others went riding in the afternoon but we stayed chatting and listening to Frederico, Enrique's son up for the holidays, playing guitar and singing 60's and 70's Argentinian folk music like Johnny Garcia. Dinner that night was a delicious beef stew but we were still stuffed from lunch so couldn't eat too much. Enrique was fun and engaging, Rosa translating throughout, but we got the feeling he says the same things every day and gets pretty much the same reaction.



The next day we had a light breakfast then headed out on the same trek again but slower. We had a word with Enrique when we got back and the afternoon's trek was a lot more interesting, we headed up a mountain trek. The way down was steep and a narrow path through trees, Brugha didn't like so much so a gaucho grabbed her reigns and dragged us down! Back at the ranch the gaucho's took Ade's horse and performed some rodeo tricks for us. It was great, even funnier as earlier in the day Ade had been calling his new horse a donkey! We then took turns standing up on the horses. Lunch that day was the same feast as the day before with the addition of crispy pork belly. Yummy. That night the horses escaped! The gaucho's kicked into action to try and round them all back up which took a few hours. Very exciting as our room was in the thick of it.



The next day felt like groundhog day. Up for light brekkie, off on a trek, back for Asado. Our riding companions weren't nearly as interesting but it was our last day so we chilled out at the ranch in the afternoon waiting to catch our ride back into town for the overnight bus to Mendoza, which was actually 23 hours in total, not just the night. The meals on the buses can be quite nice, this time company was Andesmar and food was a pork and egg dish,a quiche square, bread, cake and fizzy melon juice.



In Mendoza we stayed in the recommended Empedrado hostel in a private en suite room. Lucky for us it was Asado night so we feasted for 65 pesos p.p. (approx. €6.50). Everyone is supposed to get a glass of wine with dinner but we got on well with the guy serving and our table ended up getting a few bottles. The wine flows freely in Argentina! We'd heard good things about the bike company Mr Hugo's Bikes, they rent bikes to cycle around the many vineyards of Maipu. We spent a day exploring the town and stocking up on picnic goods for the next day's winery tour. While walking around town Ash managed to step into a puddle of unmarked cement! Fortunately a petrol station was in sight a little further down the road so we succeeded in washing it off before it set. Quite the random experience. That night was free empenada making classes back at the hostel which was great craic. We got to eat all our experiments and yes, free wine was dished out to help us wash them down.



Our cycle tour of Maipu's wineries was a little shorter than planned due to a volume discrepancy on the itouch, however we caught a public bus to Mr Hugo's Bikes and managed to still get 3/4 hours tasting wine throughout the region. The 'map' we got was just the flyer printed from the internet which was not to scale but we managed to find our way around and had a lovely time. Back at Mr. Hugo's more free wine greeted us and all the cyclists sat around chatting until they asked us to leave but not before filling up our water bottle with wine for the road and hugging everyone. No wonder everyone uses this company! Wine must be free here, everyone gives it away! And its really drinkable too.



We headed to Chile for a few days next then back to Buenos Aires on a 20 hour bus from Santiago. Breakfast was served at 5.45am and consisted of 3 types of biscuit and a chocolate and dulce de leche sweet thing. They're mad about the stuff here, this was the 3rd one we got on this bus trip. Ade hadn't slept on the bus so spent the journey backing up all our photos and wiping the camera cards which proved extremely lucky. Ash spotted some elaborate graffiti commenting on 'No English people in Argentina' (something we'd been keeping an eye on in the news before our arrival, at one point there was talk of English people not being admitted at borders but it didn't come to that) and 'It's Malvinas not Falklands'. Not wanting Ade to miss it Ash took out the camera and took some snaps while stuck at traffic. The camera never made it back into the bag we discovered much to our dismay later that day. Most distressing, good thing we had just backed up all the photos and that we had two cameras, although the one we lost was far superior to the one remaining.



Our first Menu del Dia attempt in Buenos Aires was not a success. There were two options, we understood and recognised neither; Ash went for option A, Ade went for option B. A, locro (bean stew) was quite nice, B, Mondongo smelt bad and Ade refused to eat. Ash tried a bite but confirmed Ade had been correct in his reticence, it was vile. Upon return to our hostel we asked the receptionist what Mondongo was - cow's intestine's or tripe!!!! We stocked up on empenadas on the way back to fill the void.



Our 4 days in Buenos Aires were jam packed with sight seeing and activities. First we hit Plaza Dorrego to see the Sunday market street stalls selling jewellery, bags, juice, food, antiques etc. We caught a street tango show and a 10 or more piece band playing tango music. They were great, drawing a big crowd with plenty of atmosphere. Next was Plaza de Mayo to see the Pink Palace where Eva Peron gave her famous balcony speech. That night we headed to a Bocas Junior football match vrs River Plate, the 2 biggest teams in Argentinian football and a huge derby (Bocas had been described to us as similar to Man Utd). We went with a private guide recommended by a guy Ade used to work with. We took a ride to the stadium with him but then had to split up when we arrived as the tickets he'd bought were off members and all separate. We stayed together and just sat right at the top at the back in some random seats, out of the action but could see fine. So much for the guide to talk us through chants etc! The whole stadium shook when the home fans started banging their drums and shouting. The standard of football was very poor (3rd tier English football) but it was an entertaining evening all the same.



The next night was tango night with Complejo Tango. The evening included a lesson with our instructor Alejandro which was fantastic, Ash had to do one of the demonstrations with him for the group. So much fun. Then we had front row seats for the tango show, dinner and all you can drink beer and wine.The dancing and music was brilliant. Definitely a fun way to spend the evening. Free transfers included also so no messing with taxis.



After a day of chilling we caught a hop on hop off yellow bus tour of the city. Sights we took in were the Boca Juniors Stadium during the day this time; Caminito, the main strip in La Boca where all the brightly coloured corrugated metal buildings are; lunch at an outdoor Panilla (another Asado!) place playing live music and paying through the nose for the experience (not on the backpacker trail now!); Japanese Gardens for a gander over and around little ponds; and Ash's favourite stop, La Recoleta Cemetery. This mid city cemetery is jam packed with lane-ways of crypts and monuments. BBC rates it one of the best cemeteries in the world. Its so peaceful and atmospheric without being the slightest bit creepy. We found Eva Peron's grave after many wrong turns. Out front there is a square with an ENORMOUS tree, the branches reaching out for about 100 metres in each direction and held up by big posts.



Onwards to Puerto Iguazu on a bus opting for the famed Tutilito Cama panoramic seats meaning total beds on the top floor right at the front! We'd heard them compared to flying first class so were quite excited. We had a waiter in a waistcoat serving champagne and whiskey, the food was quite nice and the bed was indeed flat. However, as you are still on a bus, there is traffic stopping and starting, bumps to contend with and turns so not quite a sound sleep although far superior to any other bus journey we took anywhere in the world.



Once in Puerto Iguazu our hostel was around the corner from the bus station and complete with pool which was handy as it was roasting! The gardens were lovely and filled with hummingbirds, gorgeous to watch but not as brightly coloured as Central America and Columbia's. From this town on the Argentinian side it is possible to visit both the Argentinian and Brazilian sides of the waterfall. We did the Brazilian first making a very speedy transit across the border, it was about 20 mins on the other side to the start of the trail. We could see the falls as soon as we got off, there are so many spanning what felt like kilometres. Great views through the trees and at various viewpoints along the way with some walkways over smaller falls and a large viewing platform looking into The Devil's Throat. Rainbows everywhere. An elevator took us up to a higher point. Raccoons everywhere harassing visitors and stealing lunches. Was funny till we heard some have rabies. Bus back was even faster through the border.



We hit the Argentinian side the next day, we could tell it was far busier here as soon as we arrived, the vast car park was rammed with buses! We got stuck behind a large group of retired Japanese folk, finally they found us!, although we managed to bypass them pretty soon as they were compelled to stop every 10 feet to take photos. We did the walkway over the tops of the waterfall and took a little train to The Devil's Throat, waiting 30 mins in the process. The volume of water going over the huge horseshoe falls was immense and standing on the platform was such a rush. Definitely worth going to both sides, one is panoramic views, the other is more exciting and interactive but mobbed.



We high-tailed it back to our hostel to grab bags and catch last bus to Ciudad del Este in Paraguay as we wanted to arrive before sunset. We'd heard the place was pretty sketch but even this forewarning didn't forearm us. It felt like bandit country! We holed up our hotel watching strange transactions going on in the street outside and listening to deafening music pumping out of passing cars. Needless to say we did not go exploring, we ordered pizza in our room, watched movies and tried not to touch the walls, don't ask. The next day we hit the well advertised Mona Lisa Mall, the reason for our visit (hoping to replace camera) but it wasn't cheap like we expected and selection was poor. We caught an overnight bus to Rio that night. And that was the sum total of our 20 hours in Paraguay!



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